PHOTOS: Air Force Tests Modular Handgun System in Ejection Seat

The Army's M17 Modular Handgun System got put to the test in an Air Force ejection seat at Wright Patterson AFB in Ohio earlier this month.

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Tactical-Life

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Photo by U.S. Air Force/Wesley Farnsworth

PHOTOS: Air Force Tests Modular Handgun System in Ejection SeatU.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Samuel Pruett, Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center force protection program manager, based at Eglin AFB, Fla., secures weapons on a test dummy prior to a test of the modular handgun system at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, Dec. 6, 2017. The test address the new modular handgun system’ capability to resist damage during ejection and still function as designed after sustaining ejection forces. This is the first time any service has conducted this type of demonstration to ensure a side arm is safe for aircrew to carry in ejection seat aircraft.

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Photo by U.S. Air Force/Wesley Farnsworth

PHOTOS: Air Force Tests Modular Handgun System in Ejection SeatThe testing team from Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center force protection program manager, based at Eglin AFB, Fla., poses for a photo next to the vertical deceleration tower at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, Dec. 6, 2017. The testing being conducted is meant to demonstrate the safety and durability of the new modular handgun system when exposed to the stresses associated with ejection from an aircraft.

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Photo by U.S. Air Force/Wesley Farnsworth

PHOTOS: Air Force Tests Modular Handgun System in Ejection SeatU.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Samuel Pruett, Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center force protection program manager, based at Eglin AFB, Fla., checks an empty shell casing from a weapon for signs of the firing pin striking the primer at the conclusion of a test at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, Dec. 6, 2017. The test is meant to demonstrate the safety and durability of the new modular handgun system when exposed to the stresses associated with ejection from an aircraft. This is the first time any service has conducted this type of demonstration to ensure a side arm is safe for aircrew to carry in ejection seat aircraft.

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Photo by U.S. Air Force/Wesley Farnsworth

PHOTOS: Air Force Tests Modular Handgun System in Ejection SeatA test dummy equipped with a new modular handgun system is dropped at a rate of speed on a vertical deceleration tower inside the 711th Human Performance Wing, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, Dec. 6, 2017. The drop is meant to simulate being ejected from an aircraft and tests the safety and durability of the new modular handgun system when exposed to the stresses associated with ejection from an aircraft. This is the first time any service has conducted this type of demonstration to ensure a side arm is safe for aircrew to carry in ejection seat aircraft.

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Photo by U.S. Air Force/Wesley Farnsworth

PHOTOS: Air Force Tests Modular Handgun System in Ejection SeatA test dummy equipped with a new modular handgun system makes impact at the bottom of a vertical deceleration tower inside the 711th Human Performance Wing, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, Dec. 6, 2017. The drop is meant to simulate being ejected from an aircraft and tests the safety and durability of the new modular handgun system when exposed to the stresses associated with ejection from an aircraft. This is the first time any service has conducted this type of demonstration to ensure a side arm is safe for aircrew to carry in ejection seat aircraft.

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Photo by U.S. Air Force/Wesley Farnsworth

PHOTOS: Air Force Tests Modular Handgun System in Ejection SeatU.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Samuel Pruett, Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center force protection program manager, based at Eglin AFB, Fla., loads a magazine clip into a handgun for testing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, Dec. 2, 2017. The test is meant to demonstrate the safety and durability of the new modular handgun system when exposed to the stresses associated with ejection from an aircraft. This is the first time any service has conducted this type of demonstration to ensure a side arm is safe for aircrew to carry in ejection seat aircraft.

The U.S. Army has already begun the process of fielding its new M17 and M18 Modular Handgun System, but the Air Force is still in the testing phase for the pistol. In one recent experiment, the service wanted to see how the gun would fare when a pilot is forced to eject from the cockpit of his aircraft.

To accomplish this, the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center (AFOTEC) went ahead and equipped a life-size test dummy with the Modular Handgun System—one on either side for right- and left-handed draw—and strapped it into an ejection seat. The seat was attached to a vertical deceleration tower inside the 711th Human Performance Wing, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

“The test is meant to demonstrate the safety and durability of the new modular handgun system when exposed to the stresses associated with ejection from an aircraft. This is the first time any service has conducted this type of demonstration to ensure a side arm is safe for aircrew to carry in ejection seat aircraft,” the Air Force said in a series of photographs documenting the test.

There’s no word on how the testing went, but as Guns.com notes, the U.S. Air Force uses the Martin-Baker ejection seat, an underseat rocket motor and catapult system capable of delivering forces up to 14 g, which could in turn cause bone fractures in the pilot. Therefore, ensuring the M17 and M18 Modular Handgun System can withstand an ejection is obviously a big deal.

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